Page 131 of An Invocation of Monsters

I felt her jerk a little when the V’uthli, Voraal, finally spoke.

“It is both a proving and a change of fate,” he said. “You must be strong enough, resilient enough, to open the Void and enter. And if you choose it, you must make the change with your own hands.”

Elle looked down at her hands. Blood had pooled and dried around her nails in a dark red glaze.

“I guess I did,” she said, clenching them into fists. “With Mary’s life.”

Juno gazed at her sympathetically. “If you really want to know, a blood sacrifice is rather traditional in our family. I made my own sacrifice, and so did every woman who came before us.”

My mate sighed, unclenching her fists.

“I shouldn’t feel bad. She… she cut their throats in front of me. She was going to kill me, too.” Elle closed her eyes. “My father… he ate her.”

Juno nodded. “And you created a covenant with him?”

“Yes. To guard these doorways, and my monsters, and the land.”

The woman reached out and took her cousin’s hands, heedless of the blood. “As did I. I wish I could have given you more to go on… maybe then it wouldn’t have come as such a surprise. But I couldn’t risk ruining the awakening, either.”

“No. Honestly, I’m not sure I would have believed you.” Elle laughed shortly. “The first time I went into the Void, I thought I was going insane. I mean, I was really, truly convinced that if I told anyone I’d be committed. And by the time I realized that everyone here knew about the doors, I felt like I was in too deep. I thought if I told you, I’d just be dragging you into a huge, crazy mess.”

Juno’s smile was crooked. “Yeah, I felt the same. But hey, now we both know. And I promise I won’t ever call you crazy if you ask me something.”

Elle reached out and hugged her. When they finally let go, her eyes were over-bright again.

My mate had been through so much. I did not believe what she had seen would ever fade from her memories; she would have to carry them for the rest of her life.

But she had survived, and she would be stronger for it.

“It’s kind of nuts to think that all of our family get-togethers are going to be packed with monsters now.” Elle looked around. “And… I don’t know how I’m supposed to guard the doors long-term. The Lodge isn’t mine.”

Juno raised an eyebrow at her, settling back on her couch with a groan. Voraal massaged her shoulders. “I think you’ll find that it is, in fact, yours. You see…”

She hesitated, and Elle squinted at her.

“When you changed your fate, you changed the world.” Juno’s smile had faded. “You do not exist out there anymore. If you were to look at the deed to this house, you would probably find your name on it… but more likely than that, no deed exists at all anymore. This house will be forgotten, and you as well, by anyone untouched by the Void.”

My mate just stared at her. “What…?”

“When I first met my monsters, and started spending more time in the Void… people began to forget me. People I literally lived down the hall from, and worked with every day. My best friends. They would look right through me, forget that I had spoken once I closed my mouth. I stopped belonging to their world, and started belonging to another.” Juno’s eyebrows were knit together. “I’m sorry, Elle, but… to the rest of the world, you don’t exist anymore. Every picture you’re in, every memory you were a part of… those are fading.”

I don’t believe she expected my mate’s reaction. A large, almost unbelieving grin spread across Elle’s lips.

“So no one will remember me at all?” she asked eagerly. “I could touch someone and heal them, and they wouldn’t remember?”

Juno shook her head, her eyebrows slowly unknitting themselves. “No. They would have a vague memory at best.”

Elle let out a deep sigh of relief. “Thank God. I’ve spent half my life terrified of touching people, afraid I’d end up in some government lab, and now I don’t have to worry at all. That’s a whole world of weight off my shoulders.”

“I’m glad that this is good news to you,” Juno said dryly. “No, you won’t end up in a lab, and yes, the house is yours. If you made a binding covenant with one of the Void guardians, then by rights all of this is responsibility.”

“At least I sold the Innsmouth house.” Elle still looked relieved, her shoulders unslumping. “I pretty much brought everything I own. All I need to do is collect my car from Dunwich… especially since I’ll need it for groceries. And… speaking of food, poor Tater… I think Mary k—”

“The crazy guy blasting techno?” Juno asked with a frown. “We saw him last night while we were traveling here. He was doing a hundred through the forest like a maniac. When we saw that, we figured things were heating up here.”

Elle just smiled. “I’m glad he’s alive. I was afraid Mary might have killed him.”

She clutched her blanket to herself, and I wrapped myself around my mate as much as I could.

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